Tour de France 2007: Stage 6 Results

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Tom Boonen (Quickstep) (Image credit: AFP)

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"Tomorrow, we have Carlos Sastre and Fränk Schleck. They are climbers and it will be up to them," said Cancellara after another day in the leader's yellow jersey. "I will do my best and try but for me the 15-kilometre Colombière will be tough. ... For me, now, I want to give all my energy to the team." The day also brought another Crédit Lyonnais stuffed lion. "It will go to my daughter, tonight, because my family surprised me by being at the finish. They made the one hour journey from Switzerland."

Fabian Wegmann of Gerolsteiner came up to the front in his white German Road Champion jersey for his team's designated sprinter, Robert Förster. He kept the pace ultra-high from 3200 to 2900 metres to go with Quickstep edging up behind for 2005 World Champion Tornado Tom. Matteo Tosatto took over and drove like a freight train in the five hundred metres leading to 2000 metres to go. The Italian noted the team's intentions at the start of the race, "up to now we did well with the stage for Gert Steegmans and, today, we will retry with Tom."

Milram went back to the front with two of its lead-out men followed by the teams of T-Mobile and Crédit Agricole. Clad in green, Zabel sat on the wheels of his boys as the road bent slightly in the final 1300 metres. The narrow roads helped edge out some of the competition and the race entered its final kilometre. Shortly after, Milram was overtaken by Julian Dean for Crédit Agricole leader Thor Hushovd.

T-Mobile followed the Kiwi with Robert Hunter (Barloworld) also in the mix. A surge from Gerolsteiner on the left ignited Boonen's sprint on the right. Boonen had already helped teammate Gert Steegmans take his first Tour win in Gent and this time it was his turn. Boonen finished a bike-length over Oscar Freire (Rabobank). The Spaniard had jumped hard to finish in second and the placing is a sign that the Spaniard is improving, while Zabel's third did not repay his team's efforts.

"I was interrupted in my sprint," said Chavanel after the sprint to Jean-François Quénet of Cyclingnews. "If I could have done what I wanted I would have finished second or third, but I am not disappointed because all the best sprinters are in the Tour de France. To be up there every day is a big satisfaction for me. I am not really afraid of the mountains to come. Apart from Zabel, who can climb, all the other sprinters will form a big enough gruppetto."

After losing almost three quarters of an hour yesterday, Geoffroy Lequatre (Cofidis) did not take the start on Friday the Thirteenth in the tiny country village of Semur-en-Auxois. 183 riders started Stage 6 on a bright, sunny day with a moderate wind blowing from the southwest out of the Rhône River valley, which offered a headwind along the almost two hundred kilometre stage. The previous day's Stage 5 had been a nightmare for Astana, an early Friday the Thirteenth where first, Andreas Klöden had crashed hard into a ditch with 76 kilometres to go and X-rays at the hospital Thursday evening revealed a small fracture of the coccyx, a bone Klöden had fractured in a crash three years ago.

Across the rolling farm roads through the bucolic countryside, Big Wig powered along as the tune of Roule Brittania played on his mental iPod and at the first sprint in Bligny-Sur-Ouche came and went after 51.5 kilometres, 'Wiggo', as the French call him, easily took the sprint points as he was over a quarter of an hour ahead of the next rider, Tommeke Boonen (Quickstep). Hanging on to the back of the disinterested peloton were the wounded leaders of Astana, Vino and Klödi who were surrounded by their teammates and probably happy for the slow pace behind Wiggins.

Next was the 4th category Côte de Grandmont, a 2.4-kilometre climb at a 5.1-percent average grade after 55 kilometres that climbed the north side of the hill and then dropped down to the west of Beune among the notable vineyards of Rully, Mercurey and Givry, just to the west of Chalone-sur-Sâone. Wiggo's teammate, Maillot à Pois Sylvain Chavanel took the next points behind the British rider atop the Grandmont climb. At the feed zone in Fontaines, with 110 kilometres still to race, Bradley Wiggins just didn't have time for a glass of vin rouge out of his musette to celebrate his Maillot Jaune Virtuel, as CSC had been increasing the pace on the front of the peloton and the Cofidis' riders lead was down to 10'30".

With 93 kilometres to go in Buxy, Big Wig was still cruising along, 7'30" ahead of the peloton as his smooth style sped him south along the Sâone River Valley and with 72 kilometres to race at the days second sprint in Cormatin, home to a noted château, Wiggins took the points again, but the sprinters teams had upped the chase pace behind and his lead was hovering around 3 minutes ahead of Tommeke Boonen, who bested Zabel and became the Maillot Vert Virtuel , with the final sprint in Bourg-en-Bresse giving additional points to decide who will wear the jersey tomorrow.

Wiggins turned left and headed east towards the second rated climb of the day, the fourth category Col de Brancion, which is 3.5 kilometres long and averages 3.6 percent. He was still riding slowly as the peloton was not chasing yet. Then, with 48 kilometres to go, near Thurissy, Wiggo had a rear flat and impetuously whipped his thousand-euro Fulcrum Speed carbon fibre wheel into the bushes as the team mechanic came up to change the wheel. At that point, Wiggo had a 5-minute lead as Crédit Agricole, Milram, T-Mobile and CSC were riding tempo on the front but had slowed the chase slightly as the big Brit was now catchable. But Big Wig wasn't giving up so soon and as he pounded across the bridge over the Sâone River in the late summer afternoon, the Cofidis man still had almost a four minute lead on the chasing peloton.

At 20 kilometres to race, Wiggins still had 1'28" but the long, lean Cofidis rider, born in Gent, Belgium, to an Aussie bike racer dad and a British mum was starting to slow his pace. 10 kilometres later, in the outskirts of Bourg-En-Bresse, the big Brit had only 30 seconds and then was finally caught with 7 kilometres to go as Milram, Gerolsteiner, Quickstep and T-Mobile sucked up the valiant Wiggins. After 191 kilometres of freedom, the courageous Cofidis man was caught and the exhausted rider went out the back as the sprinters pace was too much to follow.

Predictor-Lotto hit the front but no team managed to impose a dominant train on the run-in to Bourg-En-Bresse. In the sprint, there was a headwind that made the lead out timing difficult to calculate, as Quickstep and Milram duelled on the front, with the other sprinters lurking behind. With 500 metres to go, no team was in command, but as the road curved left, Gerolsteiner hit the front for Frösi Förster, but Boonen saw an opening on the right after 200 metres to go and punched it hard. Only Freire and Zabel could stay close and Boonen took a clean win on the Boulevard A. Levrier in Bourg-En-Bresse on a stage that finished 40 minutes slower than the slowest time schedule posted by the Tour organizers.

With his stage win today, Boonen took back the Maillot Vert he had lost to Erik Zabel the day before in Autun, while CSC's Fabian Cancellara maintained the Maillot Jaune, likely his last day in the most coveted jersey in cycling as Saturday's Stage 7 will be the first in the mountains at the 2007 Tour De France. Maillot à Pois Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis) has a good chance to keep his polka-dot tunic as does Maillot Blanc Vladimir Gusev (Discovery Channel), the Tour's Best Young Rider.

After a week of racing at Le Tour 2007, the first mountain stage in the Alps will certainly upset the status quo at Le Tour and likely show who the real contenders are for Tour victory. Saturday is France's national holiday and huge crowds should be lining the road. Stage 6 starts out with an early climb up Côte de Corlier in the foothills of the Ain region, where key team riders will try and get out front early to help their team leaders on the decisive final 16 kilometre ascent of the Col de la Colombière before the descent to Le Grand-Bornand.

With his cracked coccyx, Andreas Klöden (Astana) may be in trouble when the real climbing starts on the 16 kilometre ascent of the Col de la Colombière begins with 32 kilometre to go. Same deal for his Astana teammate Vinokourov, who may also have problems from his crash injuries of Thursday. Meanwhile, look for Dauphiné Libéré' winner, French champ Christophe Moreau and his Ag2r team to go on the attack with his teammates Calzati and last years Maillot Jaune Dessel on their home Alpes, as the team's headquarter is located close by in Chambéry. Will it be two rockin' Russians, Gusev and Karpets who will battle for the Maillot Jaune in Le Grand-Bornand on Saturday?

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